Swimming in NYC? Not Always Easy!

Yesterday, I headed to Equinox for a swim then strength training. After being hassled by the staff over my comp all-access card, I find out the filtration and heating system is broken, so the pool is basically a frigid puddle of green, very slimy water. But, since I accomplished the unimaginable and made it past the "bouncers," I figured I'd switch around my plan: weight train there and then go up 8 blocks to Reebok Sports Club for my swim. I knew this wasn't ideal -- it's better to do the swim, bike or run workout before tiring out the muscles with weights -- but thought I'd take it easy on the upper body and focus on lower. Lesson learned. At the pool, I could go only about 100 meters before feeling that heavy burn in my arms and I had to stop for a break. I think I worked 'em more than I thought I had. 

To answer some of your questions, I did the LT and VO2 Max testing at Cadence in Tribeca. It's expensive, but I think the amount of time and expert knowledge you get out of it is worth it. It's hard to say where I came in compared to other athletes since most data provides information on the general population. Probably the most valuable information I got is that I'm currently working at only 87.1% of my VO2 Max. Though a person's VO2 Max can't change much (a lot of it is genetics), the LT can improve and doing so would increase the percentage of VO2 Max at which I'm working. Highly trained athletes who have been training for many years can work for long periods of time at 90-95% of their VO2 Max.

I'm off to meet the team in Central Park for a bike workout. Since it'll take me 15 minutes to put on all three layers of gear, I'd better get going.